In acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome, what fibrous layer of protein-rich edema and debris settles in the alveoli?

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In ARDS/ALI, the acute exudative phase produces diffuse alveolar damage where protein-rich edema fluid leaks into the alveoli and mixes with necrotic epithelial debris. This material forms thin, glassy, eosinophilic membranes that line the alveolar walls—the hyaline membranes. They are rich in fibrin and cellular debris and create a barrier that severely impairs gas exchange and reduces lung compliance. The other options don’t represent this specific lining: while fibrin-rich edema is a component, the actual fibrous lining is the hyaline membrane; exudative collagen indicates later scarring, not the immediate membrane; the alveolar surfactant layer is part of normal physiology and is disrupted, not forming this membrane.